Professor NGAI Sek Yum Steven

Department of Social Work

 

Prof. Steven Sek-yum Ngai is the Professor at the Department of Social Work of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), the Director of CUHK-Nankai Joint Research Center of Social Policy, and the Associate Director of CUHK Chung Chi College Service-Learning Centre. His research interests are in the areas of service-learning and leadership development, social exclusion and youth citizenship, mutual aid and youth empowerment, and qualitative research methodology. He was granted the Faculty of Social Science Exemplary Teaching Award in 2000.

Prof. Ngai coordinated and developed the service-learning program of CUHK Chung Chi College in 2000, which was the first of its kind in the field of higher education in Hong Kong. Since the mid-2000s, his efforts have been extended to advancing the teaching and learning quality of service-learning programs in mainland China and Hong Kong. As such, he has been invited by a number of mainland universities and non-governmental organizations to provide training on service-learning pedagogy to faculty members from universities in East China and Guizhou Province. Moreover, he has been invited by the HKSAR Government to provide a series of service-learning workshops to secondary school teachers and their community partners. His commitment to the development of service-learning programs has also led to two important research projects commissioned by the HKSAR Government, including “Partnership Scheme of Other Learning Experiences on Community Service” (2008-10) and “Navigator to Community Service in Other Learning Experiences: From Experience to Learning” (2009).




Abstract:

A “Classroom in the Community”: Our Experiences in Incorporating Service in Learning

Service-learning, which combines academic study with community service, is becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. It is ideally suited to achieving both the personal and academic goals of students and the broader goals of civic responsibility and social justice in communities. This talk is intended to provide an example of the meaning and value of service-learning to students, educational institutions, and the local community. In particular, I will describe the design of a service-learning program that we have implemented at Chung Chi College of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Based on survey data collected from university students participating in the program, I will illustrate the impacts of service-learning on student outcomes. Recommendations, based on the shortcomings we have witnessed and the changes we have implemented, are also made.

 

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